A Rekindeled Heart
by Jadenandalexis4eva
Summary: This is a story set 10 years after Alexis and Jaden's graduation from Duel Academy. Jaden and Alexis haven't seen each other for 10 years, and when a duel comes to Osaka Where Alexis lives and Jaden and Zane are in it Alexis goes to visit. AlexisXJaden


**A Rekindled Heart:**

**A/N: So this is a story that takes place after Jaden and Alexis graduate from Duel Academy. The story goes that Jaden and Alexis both wanted to be with each other, but there were just too many variables, and on graduation day Jaden left Alexis without even saying goodbye. **

**Chapter 1: Looking back a surprise guest**

**Flashback:**

"_Jaden? Jaden?" Alexis asked in her beautiful blue graduation gown, it had been a glorious day, the final day of the year for the 3__rd__ year students at Duel Academy. "Jaden!" Alexis shouted, "LEX!" Syrus spotted her out of the corner of his eye, he came running up to her in his blue gown, and hugged her. "Hey Sy" she grandly said, "Do you know where Jaden is?" she asked, "Jaden? Jaden, Alexis you better sit down," Syrus explained. He took a deep breath and began to break the news to Alexis, "Lex I'm really sorry, but I found a note in our dorm today, literally this morning it was in Jaden's handwriting, it basically said that Jaden was not going to be here today, he was leaving for good. It also said something about an invitation to the pro's but I don't know anything about that." Syrus started to get tears in his eyes, "Lex, he left, he's not here." _

_Alexis stood in stunned silence. "What?" She finally chocked out using almost all of her strength to fight back her tears, "But I… I… I mean Jaden was…" she couldn't even finish, she ran out of the room crying. This was a shock to everyone especially her. After all this was supposed to be a happy day, a day of celebration and reflection on the past 3 years. But she couldn't help but feel terrible, the question she kept asking herself was why? Why do I feel so sad, ok Heartbroken would be the more appropriate term? She asked herself; as well she should have been asking herself that. There was no reason to be this upset over a boy, she was Valedictorian of her class, she was the most popular girl in school, she was beautiful and could have easily had any guy she wanted, so why was she feeling this way? _

"_Could I be? No not a chance… then again… No way not with… but he is" What was Jaden doing to her? He wasn't even there and she was going crazy. Every time he looked at her with that smile it drove her wild, his laugh made her heart race, and when he dueled his passion for his cards and the game, though it may have seemed really juvenile, it turned her on. She blushed just thinking about it. There was no way this was only a feeling of fear that he was ok, this could very well have been love. "Is that possible?" she asked herself, "Am I… I AM! I AM! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT BUT I AM!"  
_

**END FLASHBACK!!**

"Miss Rhodes? Pardon me Miss Rhodes?" Asked the man sitting behind a desk, "You are what? Exactly?" Alexis hadn't realized she'd been speaking out loud. Her face went a deep shade of crimson, "I'm sorry sir what was the question?" she asked, "Well I was asking about your schooling, says here you went to duel academy very nice. My question to you is what was it like? How'd you fit in there?" Alexis gave her answer, "I fit in just fine, sir." That was all she could say, lest she regress into another reverie. "Well thank you Miss Rhodes, we'll call you." Alexis bowed out and left the office.

_DAMN! _She thought to herself, _Oh well there goes another job interview down the toilet. _She sighed, why was this happening to her? It had been 10 years since she graduated from Duel academy, and left for the pro-circuit for Dueling in America. When that didn't work out, she decided to move back to Japan, and try to get a job in what though was the problem; she really didn't know what she wanted to do since the dueling didn't work. She started out by wanting to run a successful business and that fell through, and then she tried law, but found she was too opinionated to do that as well. Finally she reverted to the one thing she loved most, Dueling and tried to do some reporting which didn't work out either as her confident and independent personality clashed with just delivering a simple interview or a report on TV. However, she wanted to pass on the lessons she learned to others, and what better way to do that than be a teacher. However, she was finding it difficult to get a job anywhere since the duel schools were overstaffed. Even though she was already teaching full time at a small duel school in Osaka which was close to where she lived, she longed to be part of a more prestigious institution. Dejected she went back to her apartment.

**At her Apartment:**

WhenAlexis walked into her apartment, it was already nighttime. The lights in the building were ok, not great but good enough to the point where she'd be able to get around the apartment without killing herself. Alexis sighed, and put on a pot of water. She was going to make just a simple dish of spaghetti for dinner tonight, nothing to big, just enough to fill her up. As the water boiled, she went upstairs to change into more comfortable clothing than her pantsuit and heels she'd been in all day. Her feet were really bothering her, and the suit began to get a tad bit warm for a summer day. After walking around to 3 job interviews she decided she'd had enough, and walked up to her room. There she slipped off her suit and got dressed in her pajama's. It was nothing much just a nice blue pinstriped pair of pants, and a button up silk shirt.

She examined herself in the mirror, _Jaden you would've loved me like this _she thought to herself. _Where'd that come from, NOT AGAIN! _mentally screaming at herself. Why after ten years was she thinking about Jaden? Sure she had a thing for him when they were still in school, but she thought she'd put that behind her. Yet it seemed to just continuously surface whenever someone asked her about her days at Duel Academy. She couldn't put her finger on it she thought maybe it was the fact that she spent so much time with him in her years at the Academy, or it could have been that her feelings for him just kept popping up in her memory, but her heart told her that she still loved him. _That's just silly he ditched me, why would I have feelings for him? _She went over in her bathroom and washed off the makeup she'd worn, and then brushed her hair she'd buned up until it was straight. She liked wearing her hair down, it was a better look for her.

Though it was a nice place her apartment was really a mess. Her table was constantly cluttered with junk mail and bills that she hardly had time to glance at due to her busy teaching schedule. To make matters worse she'd also had a letter from Duel Academy, stating that they were interested in her interviewing for a teaching gig, at the school. She shuddered to think about it. Though it was a great opportunity, and she already had an in with Chancellor Shepherd, and Doctor Crowler (Yes heshe was still there) she really dreaded the thought of going back there. She knew if she did, all she'd be able to think about was Jaden. She looked to the small coffee table in the center of the living room, on the table sat a few pieces of paper (tests she still had to grade), and a small picture of Jaden. It was a standard one, Jaden being his usual goofball self, striking his standard winning pose. She had to laugh every time she saw it, but she'd been meaning to throw it away for some time, and yet could never bring herself to do it. Something always seemed to deter her from that one simple task.

She went back into the kitchen and checked the water, which was boiling. She put the spaghetti into the pot and stirred for about ten minutes, then dumped it out into a strainer in the sink. She sat down on her couch flipped on the TV and ate. As she was eating, she also Channel surfed but not for long as she came to her favorite channel of all, the dueling channel. She was sure there would be some duel on tonight, nothing pro, but still something. She enjoyed watching the amateurs anyways, it was always interesting to see who was the new star on the block. Too bad for her they were at commercial, she sighed and looked down at the bowl of plain spaghetti, but her gaze didn't stay there for long. An announcement came over the TV:

_Coming to Osaka stadium live, it's the match up of the century, an old rivalry gets renewed this time for the heavyweight dueling title! Zane Truesdale, the 6-time defending world champion comes into the match a heavy favorite over the newcomer. _

The newcomers name almost killed Alexis:

_Jaden Yuki is the challenger, coming into the bout with more than 15 amateur wins and would you believe it also folks, these 2 attended the prestigious Duel Academy over 10 years ago! This should be a match up for the ages, Jaden Vs. Zane, Zane Vs. Jaden, get your tickets now for this Saturday night. _

Alexis almost chocked on the pasta she was eating. _Jaden? He finally made it? O my goodness _She thought to herself, "And the match up's in Osaka, I've gotta be there!" She said. She couldn't help but get a bit misty at the thought of Jaden going for the world title, after all that's all he ever talked about when they were in school. She phoned in the number on the screen and ordered one ticket Ringside to get the best view of the action. She couldn't believe that after 10 years she'd actually be able to see his smiling face again. Her heart filled up with pure bliss at the fact she was going to be able to see her 2 best friends push each other to the limits, once again like they did so very long ago. After she hung up the phone though she snapped back into Reality, and immediately a sickening feeling crept into Alexis' stomach (No It wasn't the pasta).

_What if he doesn't want to see me? What if I distract him? Or worse yet what if he doesn't remember me? _She asked herself, "Oh Lexi, you've really done it this time again not thinking before you act." The tickets were non-refundable, she'd just have to man (Or woman) up and go. "Well Jaden I hope you can get your game on for me" she blushed saying that catchphrase, it was one that she always loved so much when she was still close to Jaden. But those days seemed long gone, because not only had Alexis not seen Jaden since her graduation day, she hadn't even heard from him in those 10 years that followed, so she didn't know how exactly she'd approach Jaden. However, she was always very smart and realized that it would be a bad idea to see Jaden before the duel, since that would greatly distract him from his duel. She decided she'd see him afterwards.

**Saturday Night Osaka stadium:**

Jaden Yuki was sitting at his locker, starring at a picture with all of his old friends. _I wish you guys could be here _he said to himself. Jaden had changed a little since he left Duel Academy, but not all that much. His hair was longer, and he no longer wore that Red Jacket (Let's just say it didn't fit him), and he'd become more physically toned than when he was at Duel Academy. His was clad in his usual black shirt, but had a grey jacket instead, though the red jacket hadn't disappeared completely he kept it hanging in his locker, to remind him of the years at Duel Academy. He had to smile when thinking about it, the three years he spent there he always considered the best of his life. From the Shadow Riders, to Sartorious and the Society of Light, to Yubel and the 12 dimension duels, and finally that crazy fourth year at the Academy every year just seemed to get better. In the end however, what Jaden missed the most was his pals, most of whom were now on the pro-circuit, and had already dueled Jaden for a chance at the title. Jaden missed, Sy, Hassleberry, Atticus, Aster, Chazz, and Bastion, but most of all he missed Alexis. He missed being around her everyday, he missed her confidence, and of course he missed her looks. Jaden had feelings for Alexis, but was never sure what they were, or how to deal with them. He was too naïve to realize he was falling for Alexis, and instead of confronting these feelings, he took the easy way and left Duel Academy, the night before graduation. Even to this day, he regretted doing that, but more on that later. Right now, he had to focus on his impending duel with Zane.

"Kuri, Kuri, Kuri" (Hey Jay how's it goin) his furry little companion popped up on his shoulder.

"oh hey pal" Jaden addressed Kuriboh.

"Kuri Kuri" (You alright? It's the biggest duel of your life tonight) Kuriboh told Jaden

"Yep tonight's the big one" Jaden responded, "but I'm sure we'll do great!"

"Kuri Kuri Kuri Kuri" (You bet Jaden, remember if you need me just pull me!) Kuriboh instructed

"Yeah sure pal, alright let's get set to get our game on!" Jaden said, with that he left his locker and headed to the arena.

In no time Jaden was in the arena, with thousands of fans cheering and chanting his name. He looked across to his opponent, standing directly in front of him. Zane hadn't changed much either, sure he was wearing a black trench coat instead of a white and blue one, but mostly his facial expression and physical features stayed the same. The 2 opponents approached each other, after entering the dueling stage. Zane had his usual stern emotionless look on his face, while Jaden had the happy-go-lucky let's have fun look. Even Zane had to smirk a bit at that, he'd never admit it but he missed that goofy face. They stepped in the middle of the ring to greet each other.

"Well Jaden, it's been a while" Zane said,

"Sure has Zane, how've you been bro?" Jaden asked,

"I've been good Jaden, but I hope at least tonight I'll get a decent challenge from an opponent, I've been waiting for you for a long time." Zane answered,

"Me too Zane, this is the match we talked about all those years ago." Jaden laughed,

"That's right Jaden" was all Zane said, "Now let's get this show on the road"

"You bet" Jaden answered, and with that the 2 duelists shuffled each others deck, and went to their sides of the dueling ring. As Jaden walked back to his, he cast a quick glance around the stadium, when viewing the ringside seats, he caught a glimpse of a certain blonde. _Is that? No way she wouldn't be here _he thought to himself, shaking of the thought that it was Alexis. His glance went back to his opponent, an announcer came over the PA system,

_Alright ladies an gentlemen, welcome to tonights title bout here in Osaka stadium. Tonight one man will walk away with the title belt, while the other will just walk away. Tonight we feature two of the best duelists ever to grace the arena, first we have the six time defending champion, Over 200 dueling wins, and an all-around great champion, ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNEEE TRUESDALE!_

The crowd went wild, chanting Truesdale, Truesdale!

_And his opponent tonight, is the young phenom from the amateur leagues, over 15 amature wins, the amateur title holder, and a the most passionate duelist in history _

_JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN YUKI!_

On the other side of the stadium fans went wild chanting Jaden, Jaden. With that the bell rang, and the contest began.

"LET'S DO THIS!" they both shouted,

LP: Jaden: 4000/Zane: 4000

"get your game on Zane!" Jaden shouted his catchphrase, "My move, I draw" he drew a card from his deck, "Sweet, I summon Dandelion in attack mode!" Jaden said, the hologram appeared on the field, (AP: 300 DP: 300), "and I'll throw down a face down!" with that the hologram of another card hit the field, "that's my turn Zane!"

_Hmmm I wonder why Jaden played that monster, he knows I'll just summon Cyber Dragon, oh well if he wants it he can have it! _"It's my turn now" Zane answered, "I draw, and I summon the Cyber Dragon in attack mode!" The Cyber Dragon appeared on the field, (AP:2100, DP: 1600), "Now Cyber Dragon attack! Strident blast" with that Cyber Dragon let out a bright blaze from it's mouth, easily destroying the Dandelion.

LP: Jaden: 2200/ Zane: 4000

"Glad you did that Zane, cause now I get 2 fluff tokens on the field!" Jaden said, "My go, I draw" Jaden drew another card, "Yes! Now I summon Air Hummingbird in attack mode!" "But I'm not done yet, next I play the spell card Fake hero, which allows me to summon Neos!" A red, white and blue, hero appeared on the field, "Now watch this, Neos, Humming bird, contact fusion!" The 2 monsters jumped in the air, and melded together, "Now I can summon, Elemental hero Air Neos" (AP:2500, DP:2000), "Now watch this Zane, the difference between our life points, is added to his attack points!" The hero's attack points went up to 4300. "Now Air Neos, attack his Cyber Dragon" the hero attacked easily destroying Zane's monster.

"Finally I'm activating my spell card, diffusion, and with it I'll diffuse Air Neos, which allows me to use Air Humming birds special ability." the red bird appeared on the field, "And now because of his effect, I get 500 life points for every card you have in your hand and I count 5 so that's…. that's…. uh Zane how much is that?"

Zane face vaulted, "Still the same old Jaden, it's 2500 life points."

"Oh yeah I knew that, I'm done so I end my turn"

LP: Jaden 4700/ Zane: 1800.

"Nice moves Jay" Zane said calmly, "but Now I can summon another Cyber Dragon to the field" with that a hologram of another Cyber Dragon came up on the field. "And now he'll attack your hummingbird!" The Dragon opened it's mouth instantly destroying the bird easily.

LP: Jaden 3500/ Zane 1800

"Finally I play 2 face down cards and end my turn. So go Jaden." Zane demanded

"Fine Zane will do!" Jaden answered, "I draw, and summon Elemental hero Flare scarab to the field, and next I'll have him fuse with Neos to create, Elemental hero Flare Neos." (AP:2500, DP:2000), "Next I'm activating a field spell card, Neos space!" with that the field became a mix of vibrant colors, "For each spell or trap card on the field, Neos gets an extra 400 attack points, plus the 500 he gets from Neos space, So I'll throw down three face downs to beef up his attack points even more!" (AP: 5000 DP: 2000), "Finally I'll have him attack your Cyber Dragon so go Neos do your thing!" Neos leaped into the air,

"I don't think so Jaden!" Zane barked, "I have a trap card out, Attack reflector unit! That means this attack is going right back at your Flare Neos!" The trap lit up preparing to fire back at Jaden,

"Don't think so either Zane!" Jaden replied, "Cause I have a trap as well, Trap Jammer!" the card lit up, "This destroys your trap card, and negates its effect!"

"Jaden you do realize that you've weakened your monster right?" Zane asked,

"That's no big deal Zane your Cyber Dragon is about to bite the dust!" Jaden retorted, "Now Flare Neos attack" (AP:3800), with that Zane lost another Cyber Dragon.

LP: Jaden 3500/ Zane:100

"Wow Jaden, you've gotten much better than I remember" Zane quipped,

"It's because of you Zane, you made me a better duelist" Jaden laughed,

"Well Let's see how good you have really become!" First I'll Play pot of avarice, and pick up 5 cards from my grave and put them back in my deck. I'll play the spell card on the field Future fusion, and now by sending off to the grave 3 cards that could be combined to form a fusion monster, I can summon that monster to the field." Zane explained, "So I'll send my 3 Cyber Dragons to the grave and summon my Cyber End Dragon (AP:4000)." "Now go Cyber End Dragon, attack with Super strident blast!"

"Sorry Zane but this duel's over, cause I activate the Trap card, negate attack, (lowers Neos' AP to 3400)." "However, Negate attack, ends your battle phase, so now it's my turn!" Jaden answered, "So I'll throw down 2 face downs, but that really doesn't matter, cause all it does is raise my Neos' attack points to 4100!"

"Well Done Jaden" Zane answered, _he's beaten me, he has become much better, he perfectly countered my deck! _He thought to himself!

"Well thanks Zane, you've improved too but now there's a new champ in town, Neos attack his Cyber End Dragon and end this with Flare storm!" With that Neos attacked the Cyber End dragon destroying it,

LP: Jaden 3500/Zane:0

The announcer came over the speakers:

_Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new champion, JADEN YUKI!" _

The crowd went wild. Jaden jumped up and down like he did in school "Alright!" he exclaimed, "That is game" striking his usual winning pose, "man Zane thanks for the sweet duel!"

"Yeah sure Jaden" with that Zane exited the arena.

A quick ceremony followed in which Jaden was awarded the new championship title. Then the stadium emptied, to either the gates to go greet the competitors, or leave the stadium. Alexis sat for a few minutes though in thought, _He's better than I remember, but he's still Jaden. _Alexis found that her breathing had gotten very very heavy, and her head felt a little light. There it was again, his turning her on with his passion in dueling, though she had to smile at it. She really had missed him, and it was great to feel this way once again, and see him in the arena.

She walked out of the stadium and into the parking lot to go to her car, but stopped halfway there, when she saw Jaden's manager (A/N: don't ask me how she knows who it is, I guess she saw him in the arena).

"Excuse me sir…" she said chasing after him,

"Yes?" a thick southern accent greeted, Alexis (It's not Mr. Shroud!), "can I help you miss… Alexis?" he said in surprise.

"Umm do I know you?" asked Alexis, "Or did you guess at my name?"

"No Alexis… come on don't you remember me?" the man asked again

"No sorry… I guess I should…" Alexis began but was interrupted

"AH SAM HILL! Come now Private Lexi!" The man said again. Alexis' face went blank,

"H-H-Hassleberry!!!!" she said excitedly. "W-what are you doing here?"

"well you see…. I'm… I'm Jaden's manager!" he blurted out,

"Really, when did that happen?" Alexis asked, still unable to believe that Hassleberry wasn't dueling anymore.

"Well it's kind of a long story, but how it ends is that I figured I wasn't gonna get anywhere with Dueling, so I figured I'd go into management, and as luck would have it I ran into Jay, told him my situation and he signed me right there to be his manager!" Hassleberry explained.

"That's awesome Hassleberry" Alexis replied, "hey listen, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure thing… anything for you Private Lexi" Hassleberry answered

"Well I wanted to see Jaden again do you think that you could get me in to see him?" Alexis pleaded,

"Hmmmm… AH SURE WHY NOT!" Hassleberry said, "Now just follow me… LEFT LEFT LEFT RIGHT LEFT!" he barked, Alexis just rolled her eyes, at least neither of her friends, hadn't changed. Inside her stomach was turning, and her heart began pounding again, she was about to see Jaden again.

**Inside the Locker Room:**

_Man what a duel!_Jaden said to himself, _I can't believe I won! Hey wait a minute I'm the new world champ! _He began to smile widely, after ten years he was finally the top duelist in the world. _Well there's only one more thing to do and that's take on Yugi! _He thought to himself again, he was so deep in thought he didn't hear Hassleberry come in.

"Hey Sarge! Great duelin!" Hassleberry greeted him enthusiastically,

"Well thank you Hassleberry" Jaden replied, "So what's up, you usually don't come to see me after a duel?"

"Oh come on Sarge, this wasn't just any duel, it was the world championship, now what kind of manager would I be if I didn't come back and visit my client?" Hassleberry asked, hiding the real reason he'd come back to see Jaden.

"I guess not a very good one" Jaden replied, they both laughed.

"Ok Sarge, I do have another reason there's someone here who wants to see you." Hassleberry said, his grin growing wider.

"Well show them in" Jaden said,

"Sure thing Sarge" Hassleberry said exiting the locker room.

_Wonder who this could be, probably another crazy fan girl. It's amazing when you become a pro, it's like you become a chick magnet. Oh well I should probably make the best of this. _Jaden thought to himself, he didn't hear the two come in.

"I can tell you this, you're still the same old Jaden" Alexis said, Jaden's back was turned so he didn't see her but he recognized the voice.

_It can't be! No way she'd be…_ he began to turn around, and saw her face.

"L-Lex?" _Lex there's that pet name that nobody else called me it was his little pet name for me_ _I haven't heard it in sooo long, man I missed it _Alexis thought to herself.

His eyes widened, "ALEXIS RHODES!" he got very excited.

"Jaden Yuki!" she responded, and ran over to him, giving him a hug.

"Lex it's great to see you!" he said, still extremely excited, his arms still wrapped around her.

"you too" Alexis said, releasing her grip on him. "You looked great tonight, Jay and yet you still haven't changed" she giggled,

"Really? So what are you doing here anyways?" he asked,

"Well I live in Osaka so when the chance came up to see this, I couldn't resist!" She answered,

"Well hey, listen we've gotta catch up and I have some time right now, you wanna go somewhere and get something to eat?" he asked eagerly _YOU IDIOT!_He screamed at himself, _Don't act so desperate! _But he was surprised at her answer,

"Sure Jay, sounds great!" she answered, blushing a bit, but of course Jaden missed it.

"Ok, fine then, I know this great Diner around the corner, it's open 24 hours." He said,

"You just won the championship and you want to go to a diner?" She asked, "You're still the same old Jaden" she laughed. "That's great Jay, let's go."

"Thanks Lex. You know, you haven't changed a bit?" he told her, she just laughed as they exited.

**End Chapter 1! **

**A/N: Sorry guys about the shortness of the duel, but this is more about the relationship between Jay and Lex, so I didn't wanna waste a whole lot of time with the duel, but I hope you enjoyed it. Read and Review! Read and Review! **


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